This is not just any discount supermarket...
This is the discount supermarket that is taking our customers...
A week may be a long time in politics - a year certainly is in UK retail. Whilst the G8 has its annual meeting in Hokkaido, Japan, set against a drastically changed global economic backdrop compared with when it met 13 months ago, the column inches on the latest UK retail winners and losers continue to pile high.
It’s a challenging environment for UK retailers, to say the least, but some are winning, and one winner at least is capitalising on the opportunities that the current economic situation is creating by driving footfall and sales at a faster rate than its competitors - Aldi. In fact, according to Nielsen, Aldi is THE fastest growing grocer in the UK - footfall and sales are up by over 30% and its market share is 2.9%, up from 2.5% a year ago.
Not only is Aldi bucking the trend of the market, it’s racing ahead of its ‘discount’ competitors. The likes of Lidl and Iceland are seeing sales grow but only by 11% to 12%. Aldi’s current success is not just down to ‘credit crunch’ - it’s down to the fact that in the last few years’ middle-class tongues have been set wagging about the fantastic quality of Aldi’s products and the millions of pounds of savings to be had by shopping there.
Whilst Aldi might reasonably have expected footfall and sales to increase in times of economic hardship, it took a PR campaign to help jolt affluent shoppers in to trying something new and into changing their shopping behaviour. It is Aldi specifically - this is not just any discount supermarket… - that the tongues are wagging about.
Our strategy was to create a PR campaign that had a few bolts of un-missable lightning set against a continual rumble of thunder. First we hooked in the media with the fact that Brits save £1 million a day by shopping at Aldi. We then personalised the saving by launching the http://www.saveamillionwithaldi.co.uk website enabling individuals to calculate just how much they could save in a lifetime by shopping at Aldi. Believing Aldi shoppers to be savvier than most, we commissioned independent research of 6000 people to identify where the savviest shoppers shopped. And to prove Aldi’s product quality is as good if not better than leading brands, we challenged the Nation to a taste test. All this is underpinned by strong press office skills to maximise opportunities and manage topical stories to Aldi’s advantage.
Our PR strategy worked - it delivered frequency as well as consistency of message and created clear blue water between Aldi and other discount supermarkets, giving Aldi standout online, in print and on broadcast. In just eight weeks over £3m of media coverage was delivered representing an ROI of 1000:1, and creating over half a billion opportunities to see.
And you just know that tongues are wagging and that your PR is punching above its weight, when family, friends, work associates, clients past and present contact you to volunteer to be the next family to be a case study for changing their shopping habits and becoming Aldi converts.
To talk about support for your brands, call Jane Sell on 01483 238 840/845